This invention relates to a device for safe containment of a baby, commonly known as a playpen, and in particular to a playpen which can be erected/collapsed while holding a baby, and carried while holding a baby. It will of course be understood that although the intention is for the product to be used for babies, a playpen according to the invention could equally be used for containing pets or the like.
Carers of babies often have to carry out other tasks at the same time as looking after a baby, often moving from room to room, necessitating a safe space to place the baby. Accordingly various devices for curtailing a baby/toddler's movement have been proposed. For example, pushchairs, bouncy chairs, babywearing slings, car-seats, prams, baby bouncers, baby swings, high chairs, carry-cots, gates attachable to doorways, cots, and in particular playpens are all available and have been used for this purpose. However, there are various features which an ideal device should include, in particular: mobility from room to room and up stairs; freedom for a baby to sleep, sit and stand; and a simple mechanism for erecting and collapsing while holding a baby.
A playpen is the ideal candidate for providing a safe place for a baby to sit, sleep and stand, that can be moved between rooms and up and down stairs. However, known playpens are difficult to put up/take down while holding a baby. A typical example of a known playpen intended address this issue is disclosed in US Patent No. 2008/0189854. The foldable playpen discussed in US'854 is shown in more than one embodiment, one of which is put up by hand, by pushing down on a handle which causes the structure to take up a shape similar to an open topped box, with four sides which support a fabric container. The playpen can be collapsed by reaching into the middle of the bottom of the box-like structure and lifting the handle; this pulls a series of cables which extend through the frame and unclip slide bolts to fold the playpen back up.
The second embodiment includes a motorized system for activating the cables to put up/take down the playpen.
However, even this design suffers certain disadvantages. It does not appear to be possible to open, close and carry while holding a baby and with the motor to fold it, etc, it will still be bulky to carry about and therefore unsafe to carry upstairs while holding a baby. As for the closing/opening mechanism, due to the number of parts it will be liable to break, heavy and hard to use without a motor. With a motor, there are more dangerous small parts and it will be even heavier. Moreover it is complicated and therefore expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, due to the position of the handle (low down and surrounded by the frame) it requires a degree of contortion from the user when putting it down, which makes it difficult to close while holding a baby.
Thus if the carer is using one of the playpens currently on the market, she/he will either have to leave the baby in the playpen alone, if going to a different room, or place the baby on the floor, while dismantling, moving and erecting the playpen into another room. This obviously places the child at risk, there not likely to be a similar safe facility available in every room of a house/office, etc. Presently, playpens require several movements to construct/dismantle, which cannot be done while holding a baby.
There are pop up travel cots which are light to carry and easy to erect, but they cannot be collapsed while holding a baby and they do not have the stability to stay upright if a baby is moving inside and leans on the side.